This dissertation examines the properties of star formation in the nearest large Milky Way- like galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Using resolved star data from the Hubble Space Telescope obtained as part of the Panchromatic ...

Transit transmission spectroscopy may provide the first glimpse at the atmosphere of an Earth-like exoplanet, and therefore the first chance to detect habitability markers and biosignatures, or signs of life. Within the ...

In the coming years and decades, we will obtain our first opportunity to spectrally characterize potentially habitable worlds outside our solar system. These planets will be at the right distance from their host star and ...

In the past decade, weak gravitational lensing has become an important tool in the study of the universe at the largest scale, giving insights into the distribution of dark matter, the expansion of the universe, and the ...

I provide a quantitative analysis of the database of 3.5 million photometric measurements for 80,000 spectroscopically confirmed quasars recently assembled by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This database is an excellent ...

This work revolutionizes the study of star clusters in the Local Group galaxy Andromeda (Messier 31) using high spatial resolution, multi-wavelength imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope obtained as part of the Panchromatic ...

The primary focus of my thesis work is to study star formation using a series of high resolution cosmological N-body Simulations. Specifically, I have studied the total stellar-to-halo mass ratio as a function of halo mass ...

Upcoming time-domain imaging surveys such as the LSST will detect over a million high-redshift z > 4 quasars, making complete spectroscopic followup unfeasible. Statistical estimates such as luminosity functions and ...

The sources that reionized the universe are still unknown, but likely candidates are faint but numerous galaxies. In this paper we present results from running a high resolution, uniform volume simulation, the Vulcan , to ...

X-ray binaries, especially those with a massive stellar companion, provide a unique probe through which one can study the end-points of high-mass stellar evolution while simultaneously tracing recent star formation. In ...